Academic resilience and academic buoyancy encompass a student’s capacity to cope with major adversity or low-level adversity. With the effects of a global pandemic, students have needed to be resilient towards the unpredictable changes that are occurring. This study investigated whether academic resilience and academic buoyancy measured by the Academic Resilience Scale (ARS) and Academic Buoyancy Scale (ABS) developed by Martin and Marsh (2006, 2008) can be empirically distinguished. Results indicated the ARS and ABS had a strong positive correlation. A discriminant function analysis indicated all adversity questions had a higher loading towards the ARS suggesting limited empirical and conceptual distinction between the ARS and ABS. This study also investigated the effects COVID-19 had on academic buoyancy, academic resilience, and motivation. ANOVA results indicated that pre-pandemic cohorts had higher resilience levels, however the post-pandemic cohort had higher motivation levels. These results suggest that 1) resilience has declined because of constant activation, akin to the process of burnout or 2) current academic endeavours may be more challenging compared to pre-pandemic, given previous education deliverance (e.g., face-to-face versus online). Further research is needed to identify possible underlying mechanisms of academic resilience, buoyancy, and motivation in relation to the measurements and constructs.